Daguerreotype of Sumner Allen Webber
Sumner Allen Webber
Gender:
Male
Born:
December 19, 1798
Died:
May 20, 1862
Home Town:
Rutland, VT
Later Residences:
Cavendish, VT
Marriage(s):
Pheobe Guernsey Webber (January 5, 1831)
Biographical Notes:
Sumner Allen Webber was the son of Christopher and Electra (Storer) Webber. Soon after he was born his parents moved the family to Cavendish, VT and he attended local schools there. In 1821 he entered the Norwich Military Academy in Rutland, VT and was graduated in 1824. Following his attendance at the Litchfield Law School, Webber studied with Charles K. Williams in Rutland where he was admitted to the bar in 1825. In 1830 he was awarded an honorary Master of Arts from Middlebury College. He practiced law in Rutland County for the remainder of his career.
Webber pursued a political career, first as a Whig and later as a "free-soil" Republican. He ran as a candidate for Congress but lost. He was active in the anti-slavery movement.
Webber was a member of the Congregational ...
[more]
Webber pursued a political career, first as a Whig and later as a "free-soil" Republican. He ran as a candidate for Congress but lost. He was active in the anti-slavery movement.
Webber was a member of the Congregational ...
[more]
Additional Notes:
The Cavendish Vermont Historical Society has in its collection three letters written by Asa Wheeler, Jr. (1795-1835), a lawyer in Cavendish, VT. to his friend Sumner Allen Webber during Webber's time as a law student at Tapping Reeve's Law School in Litchfield, CT.
Education
Years at LLS:
1823
Other Education:
Norwich Military Academy,1821 - 1824; Office of Charles K. Williams, 1825; Middlebury College Honorary Masters of Arts, 1830.
Profession / Service
Profession:
Lawyer; Political Office
Admitted To Bar:
Rutland County, VT in 1826
Training with Other Lawyers:
After studying in Litchfield, CT he read the law with the Hon. Charles K. Williams in Rutland, VT.
Political Party:
Whig
State Posts:
State Representative (VT) 1856-1857
State Senator (VT)
State Senator (VT)
State Committees:
Served on the Judiciary Committee.
Immediate Family (Why only immediate family?)
- Pheobe Guernsey Webber
Wife - Christopher Webber
Father - Electa Storer Webber
Mother
Related Objects and Documents
In the Ledger:
- Asa Wheeler Letters
- Militia Pistol
- Honorary Degree
- Daguerreotype of Sumner Allen Webber
- An Oration Pronounced Before Rising Sun Lodge
- Ryland Fletcher Letter
- Sumner Allen Webber Portrait
- Message Delivered before the Vermont Legislature
The Citation of Attendance provides primary source documentation of the student’s attendance at the Litchfield Female Academy and/or the Litchfield Law School. If a citation is absent, the student is thought to have attended but currently lacks primary source confirmation. Records for the schools were sporadic, especially in the formative years of both institutions. If instructors kept comprehensive records for the Litchfield Female Academy or the Litchfield Law School, they do not survive. Researchers and staff have identified students through letters, diaries, family histories and genealogies, and town histories as well as catalogues of students printed in various years. Art and needlework have provided further identification of Female Academy Students, and Litchfield County Bar records document a number of Law School students. The history of both schools and the identification of the students who attended them owe credit to the early 20th century research and documentation efforts of Emily Noyes Vanderpoel and Samuel Fisher, and the late 20th century research and documentation efforts of Lynne Templeton Brickley and the Litchfield Historical Society staff.
CITATION OF ATTENDANCE:
Catalogue of the Litchfield Law School Hartford, CT: Press of Case, Tiffany and Company, 1849.
Asa Wheeler Letters, addressed to "Sumner A. Webber, Student of Law, Litchfield, Connecticut" Private Collection.
Asa Wheeler Letters, addressed to "Sumner A. Webber, Student of Law, Litchfield, Connecticut" Private Collection.
Secondary Sources:
Cutter, William Richard New England Families, Volume 1. Lewis Historical Publishing Company, 1914, p. 415.
Contact Us
Do you have more information for the Ledger?
If you have family papers, objects, or any other details you would like to share, or if you would like to obtain a copy of an image for publication, please contact us at curator@litchfieldhistoricalsociety.org.